Katrougalos: it is Not acceptable to a twelfth reduction of pensions

Interview in the belgian newspaper La Libre Belgique, granted by the minister of Labour, George Katrougalos, who…
defended the Greek proposal for the insurance, as, according to, in keeping with the values of the Left.
And that’s because it establishes, in principle, the national pension which is financed entirely from taxes and is a measure of social justice, eliminating the risk of absolute poverty.
To a question as to whether it will be enough for this reform and whether the success of a particular project will depend on the reform of the system of tax collection, the minister of Labour notes that “until now there had been no real reform of insurance, since, despite the effort of unification of the insurance funds, in practice each of them continued to apply their own rules of calculation of the pension, which means there are 930 different ways of calculating.
On the other hand, mr. Katrougalos points out that the system of collection of taxes and contributions will be the same and will be based on the real incomes, in contrast with what is going on until today, except for the employees, the rest self-employed and farmers pay on the basis of a notional income depending on the years you have been in the profession.
Asked whether the reduction of 1% of GDP to the financing of pensions required by the creditors, is a measure socially sustainable, the minister responds that it is not acceptable to one twelfth reduction of pensions, as they have already suffered reductions of the order of 30%, and 52% of households receiving assistance from pensioners, while at the same time the aim is the preservation of the systemic nature of the system through structural reforms and not through further reductions.
At this point, mr. Katrougalos adds, according to the Athenian Agency that was asked from the lenders to accept to cover a part of the reduction of the GDP by the increase in employer contributions by 1% – which has been accepted by the employers ‘ organisations for a transitional period of three years. On the other hand, mr. Katrougalos admits that there will be a sharp increase in the contributions for very high income, but this is normal, he says, as it seeks the government’s social redistribution.
In the next question as to whether this is a true resistance of this government to the demands of the creditors, the C. Katrougalos underlines that the acts show that this government is acting in exactly the opposite way from the previous, since this time it was the Greek government that prepared the reform, and asked others to make comments on this, and I translate just a text that was sent from Brussels or Washington.
Asked for if to be sacrificed to the pensions in order to facilitate the initiation of the renegotiation of the debt, the minister emphasises that the government wishes to reform the insurance, in order to make it viable. The reduction of the debt, is a proposition which is at the heart of the political identity of the government, and is absolutely necessary for Greece, and the debt, apart from the economic dimension, and a tool for political manipulation.
In conclusion, the C. Katrougalos underlines the desire of the government is a social Greece within a social Europe and, in spite of working under difficult circumstances, after having accepted a painful compromise, trying to move forward with reforms that are appropriate to the politics of identity.